Ramblings & Musings

Tag: crowdfunding

…Read this one. Why? Because this is the one where I ask y’all for the something.

In case you didn’t know, I write a SciFi choose-your-own-adventure. I would really appreciate it if you read it, and voted on it. It’s a really fun thing to write and, hopefully, to read.

Yesterday, I opened a Patreon to support it. Basically, if you’re not familiar, it’s like an ongoing Kickstarter, in that instead of larger one-time pledge, every time a new post goes up (every other week, in this case), a small pledge is made. This way, I get to keep working of fun projects like The Venturess. So, if possible and you’d like to, please, go and back it. Thank you!

One of the things that bug me about internet culture is how reactionary it can be. People have knee-jerk reactions to perceived slights without gathering all (or any) of the facts, and there is a large portion of it that reacts to the extreme, countering a small offense with death threats, thus invalidating any point they might have.

So I try to avoid that. Patience isn’t really my thing, but I try not to go overboard just because I don’t agree with something. For a while now, I’ve harped on the issues Kickstarter is facing from it’s rapid success, namely what the NCAA would term ‘lack of institutional control‘ and coping with the fact that big names are getting involved to the tune if millions of dollars. But recently, it’s been more than just a couple of dumb projects that don’t quite meet the guidelines, plus more and more big names are turning to crowdfunding with less and less definition around their projects.

I go back and forth on the issue of ‘big’ names in Crowdfunding- my personal thought is, if you have the money to invest yourself and the name recognition, why do you need the crowd? Heck, I have neither of those things and when my Kickstarter wasn’t funded, I ended up doing it myself anyway. And now I have a book out, and even made sure the people who backed the Kickstarter got a copy (what can I say? I’m a nice guy). But the downside of people with name recognition and money turning to the crowd is that half the fun and suspense is removed. Watching the Veronica Mars movie take off was cool, and certainly showed that people want to see it, but after day two, their only struggle would be meeting demand. There was no down-to-the-wire suspense like with the Fireside Kickstarters.

This shouldn’t take away from the great projects that ARE out there, on Kickstarter and other platforms, but the fact is there is a lot of crap from a whole variety of outlets. But guess what? That’s true of damn near anything.

Which brings us to the salient point- blatant lack of control. For a while, as I pointed out, stuff has slipped through that does not meet Kickstarters own criteria (IndieGoGo is more permissive, so this doesn’t apply as broadly)- things that aren’t actually projects or are otherwise suspect. The good thing about crowdfunding is that people simply don’t fund these, and they fall by the wayside, for the most part. The Kickstarted documentary guys put a stop to a fraud that would have taken backers for a total of $120,000. So crowdfunding sort of works both ways- by funding, and by not.

And then there is this: At best, a handbook for sexual harassment that is insulting to women by reducing them to some manner of game, and to men because it assumes that we’re all just that base. At worst, well, if a handbook for rape seems strong, this is an excerpt:

“All the greatest seducers in history could not keep their hands off of women. They aggressively escalated physically with every woman they were flirting with. They began touching them immediately, kept great body language and eye contact, and were shameless in their physicality. Even when a girl rejects your advances, she KNOWS that you desire her. That’s hot. It arouses her physically and psychologically.”

(note to dudes: THIS IS A BALD-FACED LIE).

Reading that sentence makes my blood boil. The fact that this was massively overfunded doesn’t help. The fact that after numerous complaints, Kickstarter didn’t step in is, at the very least, irresponsible.

I think Kickstarter is a victim of its own success and the instant-reaction culture of the internet and is essentially understaffed to review every project that comes through in any depth. This, to me, is pretty forgivable- after all, they’re in the business of making money as well. Things are going to slip through that are either unfit for Kickstarter or offensive in some way. It happens. They do need to take action when a lot of people complain, though, particularly about offensive projects. What Kickstarter REALLY needs to do is hire (or heck, ask for volunteers) more people to review projects in more detail. The larger it gets, the more it will attract people looking for a quick buck or who are likely to have something like ‘Above the Game’, and they need to protect themselves and the people who use their platform from such individuals.

Is all of this a reason to stop using Kickstarter? A lot of people are saying so, but I think it’s hardly fair to punish people with legitimate and noble endeavors because of a few bad seeds. There are a lot of good projects, and I think it is better to vote with your dollar in support of those rather than abandon the platform altogether- otherwise the successful projects will just be ones such as these, and that will be all that’s left.

Quick Update: This does, however, mean that, as a creator, I would likely take my project elsewhere unless/until Kickstarter addressed these issues.

Saturday was May the Fourth, but today is Revenge of the Si(x)th, so for those of us of the Dark Side persuasion, this day is MUCH better.

I love the whole steampunk look SO MUCH. I’ll probably blog at length later, but it’s always hard to WRITE (and read) steampunk because it feels like you’re going out of your way to describe monocles and whatnot.

So there is a Kickstarter for a Veronica Mars movie, which in and of itself I have exactly zero opinion about. Maybe it’s great; I never saw it. But the inestimable Janna O’Shea (and others, I’m sure) have expressed concern over it; to whit:

I’m really excited about this movie idea, but I’m not sure how into the Kickstarter part of it I am.

I guess it just bugs me that this forum is being used to fund a movie like this. Can’t really put my finger on exactly why.

Veronica Mars on Kickstarter.

I wager that sentiment comes from the fact that Veronica Mars and the people associated with this project are already pretty well known. It creates “what do you need ME for?” type of feeling. Likewise, the number of other well known people that are endorsing it lend to that feeling, when Kickstarter is generally a platform for new projects, the person who otherwise might not be able to raise the capital for something like that.

A few tweets or a blog post from people like Gabe of Penny Arcade, or even Janna, would make most Kickstarter projects. Brian from Kickstarter has noted that early recognition from Niel Gaiman helped the Fireside Kickstarters.

$2,000,000 is a fair chuck of change, so maybe this is the route to go. Without a major studio willing to invest in it, why not turn to the fans? If it’s something they want, well, that kinda seems like the definition of crowdfunding, doesn’t it? And if it fails, it’s no money out of anyone’s pocket.

My concern is saturation- at what point do enough big names join Kickstarter that the little guy gets crowded out? Based on what I’ve seen lately, that might not be the worst thing ever, but how do we go about getting new blood? The Stripped documentary has some big names behind it, and I couldn’t be more excited for it. Is that crowding out a budding filmmaker? Possibly. Welcome to capitalism, kids.

No matter what, I think we can all agree Joss Whedon should Kickstart more seasons of Firefly, right? I thought so.

Edit: There is a year three Kickstarter. The below holds true, so if you like good fiction & authors being paid, go back it!

Last night, about three hours before funding closed, Fireside Magazine hit its $25,000 goal that will fund the magazine for an entire year. Stephen Blackmore addressed this very topic as well, but I wanted to tackle it too.

As I wrote about last month, short fiction seems to be a healthy area of Kickstarter, and Fireside became the tenth most funded fiction project on Kickstarter. All of that is good, obviously, but it matters for reasons on a larger scale.

Readers are able to connect to authors in a whole different way than they were before, and that was a big part of Fireside succeeding- the authors were directly endorsing Fireside to potential backers. The reaction, however, is what matters- A big part of what Fireside does is make sure authors are paid well, and readers showed that they are willing to support that. Similar outlets are looking to up funding, via crowdfunding or other means, to pay pro (or better) rates.

This success puts Fireside in a great position, not just for 2013, but beyond that. A magazine featuring quality short fiction across several genres that pays well is exceptionally good for an industry that is going through an identity crisis.

A lot of things that make a large difference require the perfect combination of time, people and effort, with a dash of luck for good measure. The timing is right for Fireside and the like, and Brian is dedicated and smart enough to keep it going for a long time. It might not be at the forefront, it might not make history, but it does make a difference for what is to come for the publishing industry.

If you pay any attention to me at all (not that you should), you know I’m a pretty big fan of Kickstarter. Well, I was, anyway. The concept is still brilliant and wonderful and allows people to do cool stuff, but lately Kickstarter seems to be slipping.

A lot.

Kickstarter has some very strict standards– in writing only, it seems. In the last few months, it seems like just anything is getting through.

Here is a guy who wants to build a fort for him and his cat. For $5,000. It will clearly fail, and miserably, as it should. But why is it even there? There is no reason this should ever have been approved.

Here is a guy doing… something with stickers that tell people they are beautiful. I guess he had a bunch made? But he says he is going to make a book? Of pictures? Or something? He’s not really clear, despite having a ‘what’s this about?’ section, a ‘no, really, what’s this about’ section and ‘what’s the Kickstarter for?’ section. For the low, low price of $50, you get a book and 250 stickers, which you could have made yourself for cheaper. Sorry dude, your project is about you buying a car, not telling people they are beautiful. Unless you actually believe yourself, which is even worse.

I shouldn’t have to explain why.

And of course, the piece de resistance right now: The Death Star. Now, I love Star Wars as much as the next guy. Actually, probably more. But this… this is just stupid. Geeks everywhere had geek-gasms when there was a petition to get the White House to build a Death Star, and more when the White House responded with a fun, tongue-in-cheek response.

I get it; it was funny, but now this? This is a waste of time. For one thing, yes, it’s a joke, but why do we need to make it? It takes away from the legitimate creators on Kickstarter.

Even worse, it’s just not well done. There are two rewards, and they are stupid. The description is completely lame. The only reason this has any attention is because it says DEATH STAR at the top. It’s clear that no real thought or effort was put into it.

So come on, Kickstarter. Up your game. If ‘projects’ like this keep appearing on the site, you will lose visitors and credibility with real creators- and they will go elsewhere.

The Marvel is a book that is written at a graphic novels pace, making for fast, fun reading. It follows a junkie who takes a bottle of unmarked pill and wakes up in a totally different world (don’t take unmarked pills, kids).

You can also just paypal me the money, or whatever (note: just kidding).

-DESR

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3024AD

This collection of stories reaches into the future one thousand years. It tells the tales of several persons, with dark and secret pasts, with only a hint of a promise of revelation. It tells of humanity in the future, how small choices matter and how small paths cross- for good or evil.
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